Pool Time

Things are looking good out by the pool. We love the new liner!

new table and new cushions for the chairs.
(burger Friday last week)

Go W/ The Flow

A week ago Friday, I went to the most intense yoga class of my life. It was super cool even though it was super hard!

Tori and Ben pace the two hour session on the skill level of everyone in class... which happened to be about half yoga teachers! The music is amazing and breathing in synchronicity with twenty-some other people is transcendent. I was wiped out physically afterward - in a good balanced way. Slept great that night!!

Go w/ the flow at Hot Yoga Tallahassee!

Official description: Created by Tori Reynolds and Ben Rivet, GO W/ THE FLOW is an immersive collision of music and movement that is designed to get you out of your head and into your breath. Tori’s powerful but playful vinyasa sequence is scored by Ben’s acoustic guitar and vocals, paced by looped beatboxing and dictated by every breath in the room. Improvisation prevails, reminding us the strength of human connection and the benefits of a #gowtheflow outlook on your life and your practice.

Learn more at http://www.gowtheflow.org and https://www.facebook.com/GoWTheFlow. 

FSU National Champions at Football!!!

Even though it's been a few days since the BCS National Championship Game, it's still hard to believe that FSU really won. Perhaps this comes from too many years of being a Cleveland sports fan, during which none of my teams have made it to the finish and won that big game when it mattered most, but it's hard to even take in the moment. I guess we'll just have to celebrate a little.

We have been season ticket holders for ten years now. The team has always been good - never below .500, always invited to a bowl game. We've been to big games that they've won and to big games that they've lost. We've sweated and nearly gotten heat stroke at some games and gotten soaked to the bone in the rain at others. It's always fun and such a blessing to have the opportunity to experience great college football in person.

I'm going to be totally honest and admit that I didn't have the fortitude to stay up and watch the whole game Monday night. The anxiety was about killing me. I kept taking breaks to clean the kitchen and do other chores to distract myself from what looked like it might turn into a full-scale implosion. I also knew that if anyone could rally, it was this team. That's why I'm not surprised that I woke up to hear hubs yelling at the top of his lungs at the television when Kermit Whitfield returned the kick off for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. I got to see the celebrations after the game which was awesome.

I wanted to share a few things in honor of the big win. First the video post-game summary and second a little video of our new championship flag.

Two Days in Tallahassee

What would you do if you had less than 48 hours in Tallahassee? What would you see and do? We had the chance to answer this question in real life in November when Dawn spent two days with us. She arrived on a Friday morning and left early Sunday. Here are the highlights/our recommendations for not-to-miss fun:

1. Make the most of the art that's all around us. Like in the airport!

Dawn signing the guest book at the ArtPort gallery

2. Say hello to the Gulf 3. eat some local food 

Our picnic at St. Mark's National Wildlife Refuge
Local cheeses from Sweet Grass Dairy, local chocolate from
Srsly Chocolate, locally grown radishes plus fruit, crackers and water

4. take a selfie

Self portrait at St Marks

5. lunch (or any meal) at Sage 

We both had the lunch special: Marinated beef tacos with avocado butter,
radish, cabbage, cilantro sprouts - ridiculously good

6. dinner at Kool Beanz with friends (Jenn, Britain and ran into Paula!)

Dawn's dinner at Kool Beanz - Cuban style cobia (if I'm
remembering correctly!)

7. visit Tom Brown Park (yes we took Dawn out to play disc golf!)

8. relax! we went for massages at the fabulous neighborhood Sage Spa

9. experience a local tradition 10. support some good causes and

11. have a great time with friends.

We accomplished the last three at Brewfest Tallahassee  

I love that my camera creates these .gifs 

If you had just two days in Tallahassee, how would you spend them? 

Yoga Year in Review 2013

My husband and I started practicing yoga in October 2012 as a way to try something new together. Since then I'm hooked. I haven't talked about yoga on the blog at all so here's a detailed look back at 2013 on the mat.

Studios
Our "home studio" is Journeys in Yoga (on Magnolia in Tallahassee). I like Journeys because they are truly welcoming and there are all ages of people practicing and teaching there. We also went to one class at YogaQuest (on Market Street). More about that later.

Classes
In 2013, I went to 77 yoga classes:
38 - Yin
28 - Intro Flow
8 - Flow & Meditation
2 - Open Flow
1 - Partner Yoga

We started with Intro Flow and it has been and continues to be a great introduction to yoga. The official class description: "An introduction to the core yoga poses that serve as the foundation for a yoga practice, this class is great for beginners and advanced students alike. The emphasis is on proper alignment and awareness of the breath in each pose." Even though now we are more familiar with poses and the process of moving between them, the extended instruction in the Intro class helps me really do each posture to the best of my ability.

From there, I expanded into Yin. There is a class on Monday mornings that I hate to miss. Official description: A yoga class designed to stretch the deep connective tissues of the body, the joints and ligaments. Each pose is held for several minutes and the focus is on allowing the body to open at its natural pace. This is a mellow class that is suitable for all levels and the room is not heated. Going to Yin is like learning every week how to relax. Definitely time well-spent.

Sometimes we aren't able to make our regular Intro class on Thursday night and that's where Flow & Meditation comes in. Combine movement and stillness with 45 minutes of all levels flow yoga followed by 30 minutes of guided meditation, self guided meditation and reflection. Great for those wanting to experience different meditation techniques along with the physical practice of yoga. This is such a great class. The active part is really vigorous so you work up a sweat and really have to stretch yourself physically, and then you relax and go to another place entirely during mediation. It's like your body has opened up so your mind can too. There's time at the end for journaling and even paper and art supplies if you are moved to create.

Twice I've been to Open Flow which is the class that Intro Flow prepares you for. It is faster moving than Intro so you work a bit harder. Pairing postures with breath we create a flowing moving meditation while improving our strength, flexibility and balance. Prior yoga experience is helpful, since we move fluidly from pose to pose, but this class is open to all levels. And that reminds me that one of the things I like about yoga is that in many classes, you actively work on developing your balance. This is not something that comes naturally to me so it's been great to see my balance improve with practice!

In February we took a Partners Yoga class: Take time to spend with your significant other in a new way by doing yoga together! This Valentine's Day, Yoga Quest will offer a partneryoga class for all levels of experience which will allow you to explore the poses in a dynamic way with a partner. Partner poses are a great way to deepen your communication with someone and also an amazing way to expand your practice. This class was fun and we laughed a lot. Honestly there are a lot of poses that work best if the two partners are about the same size and same height and my husband and I are neither! For one pose, I was supposed to lay on my back on his back and I slid right off, like he was a human slide. We laughed. There was live music, a big crowd in the room made for a festive experience, and they had an organic wine tasting afterward so all-in-all it was a fun evening.

Equipment

yoga mat bags handcrafted
just for us by Gayle

One of the fabulous things about yoga is it doesn't require a lot of stuff. All you really need is some comfortable workout clothes you can move in easily. Most studios will lend you a mat if you don't have one, and will provide props (like blocks and straps). It's nice to have your own yoga mat if you practice regularly (or at home). We have fabulous Manduka yoga mats. After a year they are still in great condition and super comfortable. My sister-in-law Gayle
made us great bags for carrying our mats this year too (thanks Gayle!!).

Looking ahead to 2014

• I'd like to maintain my consistency and continue to practice yoga twice a week. 
• I'd like to try some new studios (both here at home and when we're traveling). A good start to trying new places, on my birthday (Friday) we are meeting some friends for Gentle Breath and Flow with Emily. Reconnect with body, mind, and spirit through a gentle series of postures amid relaxing music and flickering candles. Release tension with slow, deep stretches and a concluding yoga nidra guided relaxation at Namaste and then to dinner afterward. I'm pretty excited about that. 
• One of the things I wanted to try and didn't in 2013 was outdoor yoga so hopefully I can find some opportunities for that in 2014. Yoga on the beach anyone? 

New Satsuma Tree

For Christmas, I got a Satsuma orange tree! Satsumas are hardy in our climate; the fruit is sweet, seedless and easy to peel. T's second grade teacher had one in her yard and shared her extras with us - a real treat. Super excited to grow one ourselves!

Here is the tree, on Christmas morning

And here it is, planted in the side yard!

Maybe this time next year, we'll have some fruit? 

RIP Cadenza

We often said, "We don't have a cat, a cat has us." The first January we lived in our house, this gray kitty showed up and took residence in the breezeway. We fed and watered him, and Emily named him Cadenza. He never came inside (too many allergies) and he wasn't always a friendly cat (he could pretend to be and then his true nature would come out with a swipe or a scratch) but he was interesting.  

2003 - first Christmas with a cat

He loved to sleep in odd places, like the roof of the truck or wrapped around one of the tires. (I even wrote a post on his ability to sleep anywhere - here)

 Cadenza with Em in 2006. 

In the beginning, he ruled his territory with an iron fist. No other cats were allowed in the yard. In fact, he'd go next door and beat up their cat, just for the sake of it. As he got older, he softened and soon other cats were allowed in the yard and even to sleep in the garage and breezeway. This fall he had really been slowing down, losing weight, sleeping a lot and missing meals. We hadn't seen him in about two weeks when a couple of neighborhood kids came to the door on Friday to ask if we were missing a cat. His body was in the creek. We figured we wouldn't see him again, that he'd gone off to the woods to die; the rain must have washed him back to us. Friday afternoon we gave him a proper burial in the side yard. Farewell, kitty friend. 

Christmas in the House

the little tree

new Snoopy Christmas pint glasses

The big tree on Christmas morning

Misty Tallahassee

After all the fog we've been having, it finally got cold - down near freezing. In the mornings instead of fog, we get this amazing mist off all the (warmer than the air) bodies of water. This is Lake Leon at Tom Brown Park, taken December 17th:

Cookie Party 2013 Recap

Some of the cookies!

Great fun and laughter at our annual holiday cookie party Friday! I made an effort to take more photos this year - enjoy!

Abe made a sushi Christmas tree!

Here I am fully outfitted by my Mom - including apron, earrings and tree shaped spatula!
(Thanks photographer Tara!)

Amazing 3-D star castle tree by Sarah K and Abe

Showing off our creations (above and below)

This year we had 21 guests plus the three of us for a total of 24. For the cookies, as usual, I made two batches of White Velvet Cutouts, one of Sour Cream Sugar Cookies and 2 of Cut Butter Cookies (these are best of building cookie structures). We had two soups - a quadruple batch of Cheddar Chicken Chowder and a gallon of Tomato Bisque (from Publix). We also have Publix to thank for a small tray of vegetarian finger sandwiches (egg salad and pimento cheese salad). Sloppy Joes completed the menu. This year we made 5 pounds of meat - 3 pounds ground beef and 2 pounds ground turkey with 4 cans of regular Manwich and one of Bold. We had plenty of leftovers of everything to send home with guests. :)

Thanks to everyone who came out and made our evening so much fun!

Foggy Tallahassee

We have had a lot of fog in the mornings lately in Tallahassee and a few mornings where the sun didn't seem to be able to burn off the fog. Fascinating.

I took these Tuesday morning, December 3rd.

This Week's Veggies

clockwise from 12 o'clock:

acorn squash, kale, a cabbage (Savoy, I think), a scarlet ono turnip, sweet potatoes, mizuna and more sweet potatoes. 

This Week's Veggies

(Clockwise from 12 o'clock) sweet potatoes, arugula, zucchini, Roma green beans, green peppers and collard greens, from Orchard Pond Organics.

Buddy Walk Recap

Saturday, T & I spent the morning at the Down Syndrome Association of Tallahassee annual Buddy Walk at Southwood. There is a family fun festival and then a mile walk around the lake. We were part of "Abigail's Avengers" and also saw lots of friends from Challenger baseball and school. The festival had lots of new activities this year, including the touch tanks from the Gulf Marine Specimen Lab and a horse to meet and "high five." T's favorite activity, the dunking tank (as he says, "dunk a doctor" since it has been sponsored in the past by the local neurologists office) was missing this year but hopefully will be back in 2013! Here's a photo recap:

Abby with her team sign

 Zoomed in on the sign so you can see T in one of the photos.

The kids loved the horse "Teddy" that you could handprint with a high five.

Petting "Teddy" the horse.

Go Team Abby!

Free ice cream at the end of the walk almost made up for no dunk tank!

This Week's Veggies and Fruit

In our bag this week from Orchard Pond Organics: (clockwise from top left) baby mustard greens, sweet potato greens, basil (with a bonus Gerbera daisy bloom!), baby arugula, okra and grapes. 

Our New Garage Doors

At long last, we have new doors on our garage!

the finished project!

 Project underway Friday - right side door down!

Goodbye old door!

New doors (and new openers) seen from inside the garage.

Next up: clean and organize the garage? Maybe...

This Week's Veggies and Fruit

from Orchard Pond Organics: basil, muscadine grapes, a Florida avocado, eggplant, okra and sweet potatoes. This is the last of our summer share. Fall season at the farm starts September 1st!

Publix Cooking Class

Saturday, we enjoyed an evening at the cooking school at our local Publix grocery store, featuring Cigar City Brewing Company from Tampa. It was a demonstration class, with the staff chefs showing us how to prepare each course and the guys from the brewery telling us about the beers used in each of the recipes and the beers paired with each course.

A view of the classroom. It's on the second floor of the store; the stairs are right inside the entrance closest to the pharmacy. Note the televisions mounted up close to the ceiling - the camera zooms in on the action so you can see exactly what the chef is doing from your seat. 

The view from our table. We were seated with two lovely women who work together.

First course: Beer Battered Conch Salad with Guava Grove Vinaigrette

(made with the Guava Grove Farmhouse Ale)

paired with Florida Cracker Belgian White (which will be available soon in cans!)

The salad was delicious, the vinaigrette light and refreshing. It was fun to see how to prepare and cook conch too. (Conch is a shellfish from the Bahamas.)

Second course: Spicy Andouille Gumbo Pizza

(made with Jai Alai India Pale Ale in the sauce and in the crust)

paired with Jai Alai as well.

This pizza was unexpectedly delicious: the crust light and crisp, the sauce and sausage flavorful and the beer the perfect counterpoint to all the spiciness. See recipe at bottom. 

Third course: Braised Beef Short Ribs (made and paired with Ligero Black Lager) served over Parsnip Puree. 

Another great course though this one was a little rich for me as the ribs were rubbed with espresso powder and cocoa before cooking and the parsnip/potato was chock full of butter and heavy cream. Tasty nonetheless. 

Fourth course: Flourless Chocolate Cake with Caramel Maduro Sauce and Chocolate Ganache, made with and paired with Maduro Brown Ale.

Super rich and super delish. It was fun to see another way of making caramel too. 

One of the best parts of the evening (besides eating all this great food) was learning more about the brewery, what they have planned, and their commitment to sharing a bit of Florida and Tampa history by putting fun facts on their packaging (also see their website here for more on the history of brewing in Florida).

Class took just under three hours. Tickets were $45 apiece. Plans are underway to host a brewery once a month this fall; sounds good to us! Our new friends at our table have been to other classes and enjoyed them -  wine pairing classes in particular got high marks as did the hands on sessions. The schedule is here. 

As promised here are the recipes for Gumbo Pizza:

Enjoy!